12 December 2025 | Hosted by the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium
Investing in the Future of Agrifood Systems: New directions for development finance
Links
Background
This year's Annual General Assembly (AGA) will build on the 2024 theme of “Financing Food Systems Transformation and Rural Revitalization: Opportunities and Challenges” by focusing on how agrifood systems can be effectively financed in the future and what this means for donors in a rapidly changing development finance landscape. The GDPRD’s June 2025 White Paper, “Financing Agrifood Systems for People, Planet and Prosperity”, calls for a major scale-up in investments and fundamental changes in how donors, governments, IFIs, private investors, and agrifood firms align their efforts.
A fresh rethink is needed to ensure financing for agrifood systems is commensurate with the scale of challenges.
The 2025 AGA will provide a platform to explore how donors and partners can best position themselves to leverage new financing options, strengthen collaborative agreements, and ensure food systems remain at the centre of the development finance agenda.
AGA Topics and Objectives
This year’s AGA will be an informative and participatory event, where donors and others (including representatives from partner/developing countries, private sector and foundations, civil society, among others) will engage in a series of thought-provoking discussions.
Specifically, the AGA will seek to:
| Provisional agenda | |
|---|---|
| Friday 12 December 2025 | |
| Morning | Welcome and Opening Keynote Address: Prioritizing food systems despite the upheaval in development finance Scene Setting: Presentation of White Paper key messaging High-Level Panel Discussion: Evolving roles in a fragmented aid landscape Catalyzing Finance and Impact for Food Systems: Advancing catalytic financing strategies for donors and PDBs to scale systemic food systems transformation Interactive Panel Discussion with Q&A: Forward-thinking discussion on financing food systems in the face of crises and development budget reductions |
| Afternoon | Joint Thematic Session: Co-hosted by the Thematic Working Group on Rural Youth Employment and the Global Donor Working Group on Land Implications of 2025 Global Events and Platforms: Discussion on the future of financing food systems, based on the AGA morning sessions and implications of global events Closing Session |
